News
- Space
Smallest planet yields big surprises
Spacecraft images reveal Mercury has a complicated inside and an active geologic past.
By Nadia Drake - Chemistry
Opioids’ molecular magic unmasked
New 3-D structures of opiumlike drugs bound to the body’s proteins will aid the development of better painkillers and the battle against drug abuse.
By Devin Powell - Life
The yin and yang of male pattern baldness
The discovery of a hormone-like molecule in the scalp may offer new clues for treating baldness.
- Health & Medicine
Abnormal cells may signal hidden heart risk
Damage to blood vessel lining shows up in blood tests.
By Nathan Seppa - Life
Antibody may explain collagen’s undoing
A newly discovered process could help account for the destruction that rheumatoid arthritis causes.
- Life
Industrial roar changes nearby plant reproduction
Trees and wildflowers register the effects as animals flee (or not) from grinding engines.
By Susan Milius - Space
Titan’s haze is dropping
Change in elevation of cloudy layer suggests seasonal cycles on Saturn’s moon.
By Nadia Drake - Health & Medicine
Cell phone research suggests fetal risk
Constant exposure of pregnant mice to devices’ radiation is linked to behavioral and brain abnormalities in offspring.
- Earth
Nanopollutants change blood vessel reactivity
Tiny particles alter normal vessel functions, animal studies show.
By Janet Raloff - Chemistry
Better hydrogen storage process unveiled
Scientists create a chemical switch that can catch and release the useful gas.
- Humans
Evolution takes Asian refuge
Multiple humanlike species may have arisen in cold-weather retreats and then interbred with ancient people.
By Bruce Bower - Life
Geneticists go ape for better primate family tree
The first gorilla genome and a more detailed look at chimp genetics provide new clues to evolution of humans and their closest relatives.